I tend to periodically report on my perennial and rather pristine record of competition rejections. And manage I did to get rejected yet several more times ie- FIVE (5) times!!! while on holiday- gotta admit, there’s a certain indomitable consistency in being rejected both at home and on the road... Why do I put myself through this (the possibility for repeated rejection, or writing about it)- does it matter? I suppose to let off steam, and perhaps garner some small semblance of revelatory knowledge as to why...
1) Der Greif- Now if ever there was a competition specifically made just for moi, a competition tailor made for: explicit, "mature audience," forbidden nature type photography. Finally, a place I can show my Nekid City photos, right? R-I-G-H-T!?!?!?
Well, as soon as I anxiously edited my photos (no longer have folder of photos sent- so take your pick), a little itty-bitty bell went off upside my head- these guys seem dead set on making a Tres SERIOUS Artistic Statement on- The Forbidden. Any spark of... levity may well be- VERBOTEN! Sure 'nough, Next...
2) Bokeh, Bokeh- No set theme here; I decided to send what I considered a half dozen strong, coherent street portraits of solitary individuals. Apparently they didn't think so...
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
3) I submitted two photos to the SF Street Photo Competition- the first, to the best Analog Photo category; the second, to the best Street Photo in SF category (there were like 5 different categories in all). I don't think competitions in general look favorably on one photo submissions- I think they want you to "prove" yourself with a series (and more $$$), even if they're only choosing one shot. And I'm gonna say this, and I don't care what anyone thinks- after looking at the work of some of the twenty yr old judges in this comp, the one thing that immediately came to mind was...
They're judging my work... Really??? Now I certainly got nothing against the young-uns- but if you're gonna sit in judgement of other people's work... then there should be a certain amount of sophistication, maturity and accomplishment to your own!
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
4) I also submitted the same color photo above to the Lens Culture Street comp simply because... you could submit one photo for free (I've given them enough of my money; see first reason directly above). PS: Also I've pretty much made myself persona non grata at LC for what I've told them directly in previous comps.
5) Finally, I submitted a photo to a domesticated animal competition at Lenscratch. Aline Smithson (who runs said blog but was not judging it) was kind enough to email me (before judging) saying how much she liked said photo- we both knew it was going nowhere...
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
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